Request budget direction Commercial greenhouse planning
A useful greenhouse budget starts with a production brief. Use these six gates to find missing facts before choosing a model, requesting a price or promising a harvest.
Discuss your projectStart with the decision
A tunnel, multi-span greenhouse and glasshouse are different answers to different constraints. The right route depends on the crop and buyer, the site and water, the people who will run it, and the total capital needed until regular sales begin. Work through the gates in order; unknowns should remain visible rather than become optimistic assumptions.
Decision gate
Name the crop and product format, buyer, grade, packaging, delivery frequency and target harvest weeks. Estimate saleable volume after grading and losses. A greenhouse area target is not a substitute for a market plan.
Bring to the project review: Buyer specification, demand by week and the route from harvest to delivery.
Decision gate
Record the exact location, land status, topography, access, wind and structural design conditions, rainfall, solar radiation and monthly temperature and humidity extremes. Check permits, utilities, drainage and room for service buildings and expansion.
Bring to the project review: Site plan, local design criteria, utility availability and approval responsibilities.
Decision gate
Select the variety, planting material, intended cycle and growing method. Test the source water in a laboratory and assess seasonal quantity, storage, treatment, irrigation, fertigation, drainage and disposal or reuse. Water limits can change the crop plan and greenhouse technology.
Bring to the project review: Water analysis, seasonal water balance and preliminary crop-system brief.
Decision gate
Compare film and glass, ventilation, screens, heating, cooling and controls against the real crop and climate need. Name who will steer climate, irrigation, scouting, crop work and maintenance each day. More equipment increases the need for trained operators and reliable power.
Bring to the project review: Shortlisted greenhouse models, operating roles and continuity plan.
Decision gate
Separate supplied greenhouse equipment from foundations, water and energy connections, transport, duties, local installation, technical rooms, packing, cooling and permits. Identify who owns each interface and what is optional. “Turnkey” has no clear price meaning until these boundaries are written down.
Bring to the project review: Scope matrix: included, optional, by others and still to be verified.
Decision gate
Model investment, working capital and operating costs beside weekly marketable harvest and realistic selling prices. Stress-test a delayed start, weaker grades, lower prices and technical downtime. Plan commissioning, operator training and first-crop support before treating delivery as completion.
Bring to the project review: Assumption register, downside case, commissioning and training responsibilities.
Compare coherent options
A structure-only price and a complete installed project cannot be compared by €/m². Ask each proposal to name its area, covering, climate equipment, crop-water system, logistics, installation, local works, taxes, exclusions and validity. Then compare expected saleable production, staffing, energy and maintenance on the same calendar.
Where data are missing, request a range and a list of conditions that would narrow it. A detailed-looking number without verified water, site or buyer evidence is still an early estimate.
Bring these to a first discussion
There is no need to invent yield or investment figures. Share what is known and flag what still needs local verification.
Continue planning
Use the greenhouse model guide to shortlist technology, the package guide to define boundaries and a feasibility review to replace assumptions with evidence. This checklist is a planning aid, not an engineering design or investment guarantee.